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The kitchen table at 698 Candlewood Lane was already covered with entrails.
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Jessica looked at her husband with a frown and then at the long, sharp blade in her fist. With a sigh she refocussed to the matter at hand and plunged the knife deeply back into the body with a satisfying skrish and began sawing back and forth.
In merry exasperation she exclaimed as she sliced, "Honestly, Seth. You carve the most elaborate pumpkins I've ever seen! You're almost done with what looks like a masterpiece and I'm still trying to carve the mouth."
Garbed in a pink apron, Seth Hazlitt was using a hemostat to pluck out a small triangle of orange from the middle of his gourd and paused for a moment as he looked up at his wife. "Well, I am a surgeon, after all. I must say that this is a lot more relaxing than what I have to do in an operating room! Ah, that finishes it." He placed a votive candle in the bottom of the pumpkin, lit it, and turned it around to face Jessica. "What do you think?"
Jessica left her blade stuck into the making of a toothy grin on her orange globe and took in the intricate design of a witch on a broomstick with a cat riding at the back and the silhouette of "Happy Halloween" all illuminated in the large pumpkin in front of Seth.
"Good Heavens! That's a work of art! I'm going to be ashamed to put my pumpkin next to yours!" cried Jessica with mock chagrin.
"Now, now," soothed Seth as he took a good look at Jessica's not-quite-finished carving. "Yours is just, ah, a classic! Nothing wrong with that; especially the two of us being classics ourselves."
Jessica smiled. "You're right, we are classics! But regardless of how old I get I'll always celebrate Halloween. It's always been one of my favorite holidays and Fall is one of my favorite seasons."
"Woman, as young at heart as you are, I'm not at all surprised that you enjoy Halloween as much as you do. A'course all the decorations you have up are a pretty good clue to that, as well." Seth glanced at the black dish towels gaily decorated with images of candy corn, a trio of small ghost statues on the counter and the amber candle next to them that filled the kitchen with a cinnamon-pumpkin aroma, as well as other holiday bric-a-brac.
"Now, confess Seth," insisted Jessica as she continued her incising. "You like this holiday as much as I do."
"A-yuh, maybe not quite as much," he admitted, "but I do like seeing the little ones in their costumes parading around."
"Oooh, speaking of parades, we need to get downtown soon if we want to watch the kids showing off their outfits on Main Street before they take to the streets. There! Finished!" Jessica said triumphantly. "How do you like mine?" she asked, turning the big orange ball about.
Seth laughed out loud at the sculpted image facing him. Jessica had shaped out two big, long ovals for eyes, with small dots on the inner sides that gave a cross-eyed appearance, a round nose, and a wide three-toothed grin that stretched from one side to the other.
"Here's a candle for your work of art, Jess. Let's get these out on the front porch and then head into town," Seth chuckled as he wrapped up the newspaper covering the table and put it into the trash, snuffed out the candle, and then picked up his pumpkin.
Jessica plunked the votive down into hers and, picking it up, followed her husband toward the front door. Passing the dining room table she looked at the black and purple bowls sitting there, filled with full sized chocolate bars and mentioned, "Well, the trick-or-treaters will long remember our house after tonight. What prompted you to get the regular candy bars?"
Seth stopped and looked back at her. "Preventative medicine!" said the physician. "Now that the kids know a doctor lives here they'll expect that we'll be giving out tongue depressors, or something. This way, word will spread that we give out big candy bars and we'll get to see a lot of the little keeblers."
Jessica looked at her husband of four months with amazement. "I knew it! I knew you also liked Halloween!"
"I never said that I didn't. It's just that children don't willingly go to a doctor's office, even at Halloween. They're too afraid I'll give 'em shots, instead of treats!"
"You're just an old softie at heart Seth," Jessica warmly said as she put her jack-o'-lantern down on the dining room table and stepped closer to her husband.
"Well, you've found me out - but don't go spreading it around. You'll ruin my cantankerous image." Seth started to feel a familiar glow as she approached and he parked his pumpkin, too.
Jessica moved against Seth and slid her arms around his waist. She pressed a warm kiss to his lips and he responded by putting his arms around her and deepening the kiss. Too soon for his liking, Jessica broke off and leaned back to look at him with twinkling blue eyes.
"It wasn't hard to deduce, dear. You're so eager to put out the jack-o'-lanterns that you're still wearing my pink apron!" And with that she pulled the end of the bow from behind him and then tugged the apron up and off.
Seth looked abashed for a moment and then joined Jessica in a round of hearty chuckles. Drawing her against him again he said, "My gaff was worth it since I get to hold you in my arms and kiss you." And with that he caught her lips in a lingering, delicious smooch. Jessica pressed into him and the kiss began to quickly intensify, filling them with pleasurable sensations and the sound of bells.
The bells persisted and penetrated the haze gathering in Jessica's mind. She again broke the kiss and gave Seth a puzzled look. "Do you hear bells?"
"Of course, we're in love. We're supposed to hear bells," he answered, drawing her back into his embrace.
Just then the bell rang again. "It's the door bell, Seth. We should get that."
Seth reluctantly released her. "Oh, all right. But it better be for a good reason," he grumbled as he moved to the door and pulled it open with Jessica right behind him.
"Wha…?! Seth exclaimed. "Oh, my! Jessica called out at the same time.
They were both startled by two things: the exterior of their door wrapped in red foil Christmas paper with a gold ribbon across it and a large green bow in the middle and the "Trick or Treat!" hollered by an urchin of nine years old costumed as a skeleton and holding up an empty black canvas sack with a huge golden moon on it.
Behind the urchin stood a grinning tall man with black hair and a thin mustache.
"Señor Alverado, hello!" greeted Jessica, stepping to Seth's side.
"¡Buenos días! I see by your surprised expressions that you were not aware of this, ah, decoration on your door."
"No," Jessica chuckled. "It looks like someone pulled a prank on us." Glancing down at the youngster she said, "And this scary fellow must be Pedro. It's nice to meet you." She reached down and shook the young man's hand. "I'm glad you caught us Señor Alverado so we can settle up for the yard work you did for us while we were out of town."
While she was talking Seth had retreated to the dining room table and returned with an envelope. Coming back to the door he said, "A-yuh, thanks for taking care of everything so well. We appreciated not coming back to a hayfield."
"De nada," the tall man said as he accepted the envelope. "I was happy to help."
"Are you on your way to take part in the parade?" Jessica asked the young skeleton.
"Sí, Señora. Then Papá is taking me out for trick-or-treating! I can't wait!"
"Are you in town much longer?" inquired Seth of the proud father.
"Only until two days after tomorrow," Señor Alverado replied. "We will celebrate Día de Muertos here since we have family buried in the cemetery and then we all go south to Florida to join our cousins and to pick the winter crops. Of course, we'll be back for the blueberry harvest and apple picking next year as well as landscape work."
"We're glad to hear that. Have a safe trip," Jessica wished them, "and we look forward to seeing you and the rest of your family next year."
Seth brought his hand from behind his back. "Oh, and here's something for our first trick-or-treater of the night." With that he put two candy bars in the youngster's bag.
"Oh, gracious, gracious, Señor! The little skeleton gushed.
Jessica and Seth waved to them as they left. "Well," said Seth, "let's tidy up the door a little. I think someone is enjoying pranking us this year. Did I tell you that I found hearts drawn on my windshield this morning? They had 'J + S' and 'S + J' in them. 'Course, it was soap and washed right off so I didn't mind it so much."
"Ah, they got me too!" laughed Jessica. "Yesterday while I was in the post office someone put a large plant of orange mums in my bike's basket. That would have been nice - but it wasn't in a pot! It is the season for hi-jinx. I just hope it doesn't include eggs! Let's finish wrapping up the Christmas paper and get downtown to the Halloween parade."
(Author's Note: For the backstory on Jessica's and Seth's marriage please see Past Perfect Future.)